The present invention relates to fastener grommets used in various applications for fastening of one piece of fabric or material (hereafter referred to as "material") to another, or one location on a single piece of material to another location on the same piece, while providing function as a grommet whether unfastened or fastened between locations.
The new art has various applications in the fabric, garment, outdoor wear, recreational, tarpaulin, fabrication, mechanical, wood and metal construction, and related industries. The various embodiments of the invention may be constructed from metal, plastic or other suitable matter. The embodiments of the present invention will provide a valuable and useful function both (e.g. concurrently) as a fastener and as a grommet.
Grommets and Fasteners as individual and separate units are well known in the art for providing individual functions as grommets, or fasteners. The present invention relates to combining these functions into various but singular embodiments. After making numerous inquiries with manufacturers of individual embodiments of fasteners and grommets, and reviewing prior art patents, we have discovered no such prior art that achieves the present art combination of a fastener and a grommet. Various prior art fasteners and grommets may be used in a "side-by-side" fashion. This prior art configuration of two independent pieces of hardware, one a grommet and the other a fastener, allows two separate locations on a piece of material to be fastened together, and may provide utility of a grommet at a separate location on the given material. This prior art requires that two separate and distinct hardware units (e.g. one a grommet embodiment and the other a fastener embodiment) be installed to be utilized. The present invention combines fastener and grommet functions individual embodiments, thereby accomplishing a new art, and improvement over prior art, greatly improving fabrication efficiency, and economics, reducing weight and improving functional utility and appearance of fabricated garments, tarps, etc.